World Bank Investor Perception Survey on FDI into Africa and Rwanda

WAVTEQ, as part of an Adam Smith International consortium, was awarded a World
Bank contract from 2017-18 to conduct an international investor perception survey.
WAVTEQ visited Rwanda and conducted interviews with existing investors to understand the business climate and investment opportunities whilst providing FDI training for Rwanda Development Board.

WAVTEQ led the
design of an international investor perception survey methodology and questionnaire
and developed a target database of 500+ potential investors, identifying companies
that have plans for FDI in Africa / East Africa but which have not yet invested in the
region and companies that have invested in East Africa but not yet in
Rwanda. WAVTEQï¿½s global lead generation team implemented the survey.

The survey report was officially launched by the World Bank and Rwanda Development
Board in June 2018 (see links below).

Key findings from the international investor perception survey designed and
implemented by WAVTEQ include:

37% of companies are considering FDI in Africa in the next 24 months (note
the survey focused only on companies with a high propensity for FDI in the
Agri-Business, Healthcare, ICT, Manufacturing, and Services sectors)

45% of companies are considering FDI in Asia-Pacific, 41% in Europe, 39% in
North America, 32% in Latin America & Caribbean, and 23% in Middle East
in the next 24 months

Almost half of potential investors are from Asia-Pacific with around one-fifth
from Europe and one-fifth from North America

Companies are considering different options for FDI in Africa; while the
majority of companies are planning the establishment of wholly-owned
subsidiaries (Greenfield FDI), Joint Ventures and Strategic Partnerships
with local companies are also being considered by over half of
companies. In manufacturing sectors, over one-third of companies are
considering M&A

When companies were asked which countries they have considered for FDI in
the last 5 years, Rwanda was ranked in joint 8th place. Given the small size
of the population and economy, this was a relatively high ranking. Kenya,
Ethiopia and South Africa were the countries most considered for
FDI, reflecting the size of their market, population, industrial clusters,
and openness for FDI.